2014 F1 cars

Williams have become the second team to reveal the look of their 2014 F1 car – and the first to show off the design of the widely-debated 2014 noses.

The FW36 features the strikingly narrow, tapered nose which is expected to feature on many of this year’s cars due to the framing of the new regulations.

It is the first Williams to be powered by a Mercedes engine, and chief technical officer Pat Symonds said he was pleased with their collaboration so far.

“This is the first time that Williams has worked with Mercedes in F1 and we’ve been very impressed,” he said. “Their professionalism and commitment have been notable and we’re as confident as we can be that the power unit will be competitive.”

Aside from the striking nose design, which is expected to feature on most cars this year, the car features enlarged air intakes to cool the sophisticated new engines and energy recovery systems.

“Overall the cars will need more cooling this year,” Symonds explained. “The demands on water and oil cooling may be slightly diminished, but the [Energy Recovery System] is significantly more powerful and hence needs more cooling. We also have to cool the charge air from the turbocharger compressor which requires a substantial intercooler.”

“There’s a lot more technology on the cars this year,” he added. “We’ve had turbo-charged engines in F1 before; what’s different this time is that it is much more than just an engine change, it is a completely different system.”

“We’ve gone from a slightly hybridised normally aspirated engine to a fully integrated hybrid power unit with novel technology at its heart.”

Symonds said production of the car went according to plan. “But it’s been a challenge to get the car down to the weight limit.”

“It’s been achievable, but it hasn’t been easy because the new power unit is heavier than the outgoing V8.”

I couldn’t care less how the cars look, but I find it funny, not that nose tip is like that, but that with that tip, when looking whole front (cockpit glass to nose tip) section of the car with that thin tip at the front, it all looks like a condom. :)
Now that I think about it, the cockpit sounds more appropriate than ever!

Are they going to add a “receiving slot” on the back of the cars too, so we’ll see cars penetrating each other?! They’ll have to give it an NC-17 rating and it will have gone from a sporting event to an adult film!

When the prospect of “ant-eater” noses was first raised I was concerned about the appearance, but I have to say, not only does this rendering of the Williams not bother me in the slightest, I actually think the nose of the FW36 looks better than that of the FW35. Will be interesting to see how closely the rendering reflects the real thing.

So, for me; sound, different but seems fine; look, different but seems fine. Next up, quality of racing…

I do wonder whether they went the wrong way specifying the height of the nose tip. It would have been better if they’d specified a maximum ride height of the front wing and a maximum length of the pylons. If they then mandated a minimum cross-sectional area of the pylon(s) the teams could choose whether to run two smaller pylons or one large pylon. They wouldn’t have these daft protrusions that are only there to make the car comply with the dimension restrictions.

I thought more was going to change than simply the nosecone. It seems, just like between 2012 and 2013, there was nothing to change and little to update. The nose is better pointing downwards, but without that thing we would have a lovely field of cars…